Woman sought in credit card fraud case

Austin L. Miller @almillerosb

Sunday

Aug 25, 2019 at 2:38 PMAug 25, 2019 at 6:12 PM

Yohona De La Caridad Estevez Audia, 29, used a credit card fraudulently. Estevez Audia and Aurelio Moises Mas Prats, 57, are believed to have defrauded several businesses out of nearly $55,000 worth of merchandise, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Local detectives are looking for a woman in connection with the fraudulent use of credit cards, while her alleged accomplice is locked up as they continue their investigation into other fraud allegations.

From their investigation, the detectives believe the pair has defrauded several businesses out of nearly $55,000 worth of merchandise.

When Aurelio Moises Mas Prats was arrested by Ocala police officials on Aug. 2, he had a counterfeit Florida driver's license and a state benefits card. The names on the identifications were different, authorities said.

Detective Mark Proco requested Mas Prats, who has a Tampa mailing address, to be held on no bond as further charges are pending against the 57-year-old man. Proco also wants Mas Prats to be held on no bond because he believes Mas Prats is a flight risk and has the ability to create false identifications and documents.

For now, Mas Prats faces multiple charges of grand theft, a charge of fraudulent use of credit cards to obtain goods and unlawful possession of a counterfeit driver's license.

In Proco's cases, the detective was able to establish that Mas Prats used compromised credit cards at various local businesses between June and July to buy goods that were loaded on a U-Haul rental vehicle and then transported to a storage facility.

Employees who processed the cards were unaware the cards were compromised until they received notices that the reported card owners were disputing the charges.

According to Proco's reports, some of the cards used by Mas Prats came from the Royal Bank of Canada.

An example of one of Mas Prats purchases occurred at Maudlin International at 5221 W. State Road 40 where Mas Prats paid more than $13,000 for a Cummins Overhaul Kit and a Platinum engine overhaul.

Proco was able to identify Mas Prats through photo line-ups shown to employees at businesses Mas Prats visited. Yohona De La Caridad Estevez Audia, 29, has used a credit card that was compromised at Maudlin International, according to Proco's report. An employee at the business identified Estevez Audia as the person making the purchase, Proco noted in his report. Probable cause was established for the woman's arrest for grand theft. So far, she has not yet been caught.

Detective Andrew Canterberry of the Marion County Sheriff's Office said in his report that both Mas Prats and Estevez Audia made fraudulent purchases with credit cards in June.

According to the detective's report, Mas Prats bought 20 semi-truck parts from Freightliner of Ocala at 3950 W. County Road 329 with multiple counterfeit credit cards for more than $18,000.

Canterberry said in his report at the time of Mas Prats' arrest, he had the same counterfeit driver's license that was used on each fraudulent transaction. He also was wearing the same watch and bracelet seen on surveillance footage from one of the transactions, the detective said.